NHL 26 1.8 Patch Notes

As for the stick lift you yourself posted a clip on them which still happens and as for the poke checks yeah they work if you have the stick'em up xfactor if not you have to be in a perfect  position to knock the puck loose 

I personally stopped using Stick 'em up and am still able to poke check well. Yes, it needs a boost and this too is something the team is aware of. However, even though it's not as good as it should be, it's still very useable. It's one of my main tools for defense and I break up a ton of plays with it. There are most definitely frustrating moments where you poke multiple times and not enough separation occurs and the carrier picks it up again. Those drive me crazy. In general though, I have more success than failures with poking and that's without Stick 'em up.